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www.militaryaerospace.com MILITARY & AEROSPACE ELECTRONICS MAY 2013 33
General Dynamics Knifefsh
UUV team eyes production after
fnishing critical design review
BY John Keller
FAIRFAX, Va.General Dynamics Ad-
vanced Information Systems in
Fairfax, Va., has completed the
critical design review for the Knife-
fsh surface-mine countermeasure
unmanned underwater vehicle
(UUV), and is beginning to develop
the UUVs hardware and software.
In April, the Knifefsh UUV,
which will be part of the U.S. Navy
Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) mine
countermeasures mission pack-
age in 2017, formally entered into
full-scale development after com-
pleting a critical design review in
January that included signifcant
risk-reduction measures.
Knifefsh is a specialized Blue-
fn-21 UUV from Bluefn Robotics
Corp. in Quincy, Mass., that is be-
ing developed for the SMCM UUV
program for which Bluefn is under
subcontract to General Dynamics
Advanced Information Systems.
Bluefn completed the Knifefsh
Preliminary Design Review earlier
this year. The Knifefsh will hunt
for buried mines and mines in a
high-clutter environment using a
low-frequency broadband synthet-
ic aperture sonar. Knifefsh will
launch from the LCS, search for
and map mines and then return to
the ship with its data.
The General Dynamics Knife-
fsh team includes Bluefn Robotics;
Ultra Electronic Ocean Systems in
Braintree, Mass.; Oceaneering In-
ternational Inc. in Houston; Metron
in Reston, Va.; Applied Research
Laboratory at Penn State Universi-
ty in State College, Pa.; 3 Phoenix
in Hanover, Md.; General Dynamics
Information Technology in Fairfax,
Va.; and ASRC Research Technolo-
gy Solutions in Greenbelt, Md.
The General Dynamics full-scale
development phase, which the mil-
itary calls engineering and manu-
facturing development (EMD), will
involve building three engineering
development modules.
Expected to attain initial opera-
tional capability in 2017, Knifefsh
is a heavyweight mine counter-
measure (MCM) UUV that will de-
tect and classify mines resting on
the seafoor and buried mines in
high-clutter environments and ar-
eas with potential for mine burial.
Knifefsh also gathers environ-
mental data to provide intelligence
support for other mine warfare
systems. The UUV will operate in
minefelds as an off-board sensor,
while the host ship stays at a safe
distance.
The Naval Sea Systems Com-
mand (NAVSEA) awarded Gener-
al Dynamics a contract to design
and build Knifefsh in September
2011.
FOR MORE INFORMATION visit
General Dynamics Advanced
Information Systems online
at www.gd-ais.com, and Bluefn
Robotics at www.bluefnrobotics.com.
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